Cowboys believe latest rebuild of offensive line in NFL draft is path to contention

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Not long after the Dallas Cowboys completed a rebuild of their offensive line through the NFL draft a decade ago, they finished a season as the top seed in the NFC and had the league's rushing leader twice in three years.

Dallas is using the same formula again now, having taken a blocker in the first round three times in the past four drafts after getting Alabama guard Tyler Booker with the 12th overall pick.

The trio back then was left tackle Tyron Smith (2011), center Travis Frederick (2013) and right guard Zack Martin (2014). Smith and Martin just wrapped up stellar careers by retiring a month apart.

Booker, who could end up replacing Martin, joins left guard Tyler Smith (24th pick in 2022) and left tackle Tyler Guyton (29th last year).

Quarterback Dak Prescott, who is entering his 10th season on the first NFL contract to average $60 million per season, was the 2016 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year with a big assist from fellow first-year star Ezekiel Elliott, that two-time rushing champ from their early years together.

“I feel like we’re taking that journey now and it all starts right there,” executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones said. “We want to protect the guy who is the most expensive guy in the league and we want to complement (receiver) CeeDee (Lamb) and what we’re doing with him. I think all of this helps bring that all together.”

Owner Jerry Jones also looked back on that 2016 season, when the top-seeded Cowboys lost at home to Green Bay in the divisional round.

Dallas went to the playoffs and won a wild-card game two years later, and just had a three-year postseason streak stopped with a 7-10 record in 2024. The injury-filled season led to the departure of coach Mike McCarthy and the hiring of first-time head coach Brian Schottenheimer, who was an NFL assistant for 25 years.

“You may disagree with me, but I feel we were hanging around the rim,” Jerry Jones said. “We were knocking at the door. The makeup that we have on our team and the players we have right now — this is a very good way to get something big-time done in the next two or three years.”

The Cowboys stayed with their board in the second and third rounds, getting Boston College edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku 44th overall and East Carolina cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. at 76. Revel probably would have gone higher without a knee injury sustained early last season.

Those picks clearly weren't dictated by need with Dallas still looking for its next dominant running back after Elliott, and no clear No. 2 receiver behind Lamb.

The Cowboys finally got a running back with their fourth choice — Texas' Jaydon Blue in the fifth round. Dallas added another with Clemson's Phil Mafah in the seventh, but didn't draft a receiver.

At the moment, 2024 midseason trade acquisition Jonathan Mingo and free agent pickup Parris Campbell join Jalen Tolbert and Ryan Flournoy among the current Cowboys looking to be Prescott's second option at receiver.

“I really do think that we’re deep in terms of guys that are young,” Schottenheimer said. “It’s not as easy to always just plug and play a guy as a rookie receiver. He comes in, and ‘Oh, he’s going to have a monster year.’ It’s not always that easy, but we’re never done looking for new players and acquisitions.”

Dallas traded up in the fifth round to get Florida linebacker Shemar James and selected Oregon offensive lineman Ajani Cornelius in the sixth.

The Cowboys took two defensive tackles in the seventh round, starting with UCLA's Jay Toia — a true nose tackle — at No. 217 overall. Tommy Akingbesote of Maryland was the 247th choice.

All three of Dallas' first-round offensive linemen since 2022 are Tylers. It's enough to raise the question of what blocking prospects named Tyler might be available next year.

“If there is, we will find him,” said vice president of personnel Will McClay, happily playing along. “If he is good enough, then he will be a part of this ‘Great Wall of Tyler’ or whatever we are calling it now.”

Ezeiruaku grew up in New Jersey cheering for the Philadelphia Eagles, an NFC East rival of the Cowboys. He wasted no time pivoting even after admitting he was surprised the Cowboys selected him because he didn't have much pre-draft interaction with the club.

“I’m here right now celebrating with my family, and we’re at a country club and there’s some people from my hometown that is here,” Ezeiruaku said. “They actually have Eagles gear on. I said to go ahead and take that off right now.”

Asked about the Eagles winning the Super Bowl, Ezeiruaku said, “That was pretty cool in my last year as an Eagles fan.”

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Dallas Cowboys' first round draft pick Tyler Booker speaks during an NFL football press conference in Frisco, Texas, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer, left, and first round draft pick Tyler Booker, right, look on during an NFL football press conference in Frisco, Texas, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Dallas Cowboys executive vice president, CEO and director of player personnel Stephen Jones speaks during a news conference for the team's NFL football draft first-round pick Tyler Booker in Frisco, Texas, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer attends a news conference for the team's NFL football draft first-round pick Tyler Booker in Frisco, Texas, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Dallas Cowboys first-round NFL football draft pick Tyler Booker laughs during a news conference in Frisco, Texas, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Dallas Cowboys first-round NFL football draft pick Tyler Booker, left, and team owner Jerry Jones, right, speak during a news conference in Frisco, Texas, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)